The commentary is not available for this match. Please check the scorecard for latest updates.
The land where the first-ever T20 World Cup was played has seen the end of another edition of its franchise league. The rainbow nation has thoroughly enjoyed this fast-paced cricket action and we hope you have too. That's all we have from the Final of the SA20 as I, Lavil Saldanha along with my colleague Pradeep Somashekhar sign off. Do check Sportskeeda for the latest Sports related news. We hope you catch up with you sometime soon, until then, SEE YA!
Up goes the trophy in the arms of Aiden Markram, and he hoists it in the air as the crackers go up with it. There was a lot of talk about the tournament as it was about to start and now it has come to an end, giving some new household names and stars to South African cricket. Wide smiles are on the faces of the players and the champagne bottles are sprayed. A night to remember as Season 2 of the SA20 is officially closed!
Aiden Markram, SunRisers Eastern Cape Captain: It is a great feeling. To be in the final is a proud moment and for the guys to turn up and play the way they have is a testament to how we play so credit to them. The competition is tough and in every game, you need to be at your best. You carry the momentum till the end of the tournament but it was a new day today and we did well. The bowlers were the shining lights and the batters too, did the right job when needed. Even the guys who didn't play have helped us throughout. Captaincy was made easy by this group of people, they are fully interested in the best interests of the team.
Now the Sunrisers Eastern Cape collect the winner's medals! Aiden Markram collects the winner's cheque!
Keshav Maharaj, Durban Super Giants Captain: At the start, if you had told us we would have made the final I would have taken It. It was a big turnaround from the last season and we lost to the better team on the day. I thought we gave 20-30 runs more, it was a good wicket and we were confident but we lost wickets at regular intervals. Kudos to the SunRisers. The support staff and team have been very supportive. The captaincy journey has been a pleasant one and it is the team that have made it so. Thank you for all the support, we will hopefully take all of that and build on it in the next season
All the Durban Super Giants players collect their medals now! Keshav Maharaj accepts the runners up cheque!
Heinrich Klaasen is the Player of the Season! Here's what he has to say: Little bit disappointed, but it's not all about winning trophies, seeing my family happy is good tonight. It was a good tournament, our guys played fantastically well, obviously the better team won tonight. Swing has been good in the last couple of years, hopefully it continues and there's a lot of hard work, I trust in my process and abilities. Fantastic tournament, cricket has been incredibly tough, but the coaching, team management support has been really good.
Ottneil Baartman is the Bowler of the Season! Here's what he has to say: It's a great tournament, credit goes to the bowlers, the way they set up the game and bowled well in powerplays. Sometimes it's your day, sometimes it doesn't, but we always to stick to the plan that was discussed and we did that all the time. The message is clear, stick to the processes and do what you need to normally do. Personally, it's a good season, for all of us.
Batter of the Season Award goes to Heinrich Klaasen! He will be speaking later to the commentators later
Rising Star of the Season Award goes to Marco Jansen! Here's what he has to say: I had a nice season this year, but could not do it with the guys. Personal performances can only take you so far but the boys pushed me. They are also awesome bowlers. I knew when I would fail, they were there to fall back on. With the bat, it was if it pays off it does. Once again, could not have done it without the boys and we hope we have a good night
Spirit of Cricket Award goes to Sunrisers Eastern Cape! Here's what Adi Birrell has to say: (What is the recipe to success) I really don't know, we just try hard and play the game in the right way, there is no animosity ever, just about the characters in the team, privilege to have good bunch of guys. I think the fight that we show as a team, we've chosen good character to do that and be good people be it in or off field. It is very difficult, they come from different parts of the world, we did some activities to bond well with each other.
Tom Abell is the Player of the Match! Here's what he has to say: Feels incredible, to win it last year like the boys did, was a great effort, but back out here and winning it two in two is unbelievable effort, we've worked hard for it and obviously happy. Partnerships is something we've discussed as a group, we got off to a good start and with a lot of firepower, it was a great team effort and the bowlers stepped up to defend it. Just very grateful, I loved my time here, just feel very fortunate as well.
Some more quotes from the players:
Liam Dawson: It is a good tournament, the crowds have been sold out and it has been a great place to tour. Aiden Markram is a brilliant captain and fitting that he scores some runs tonight and wins the game as well. The whole tournament has been great but then there are ebbs and flows as well. We knew 200 odd in the final was going to be tough to chase and that's what happened Daniel Worrall: It is a crazy tournament. The crowd is crazy over here and being a neutral venue to see so many members of the crowd is amazing. Aiden Markram is a good player as well and it was pretty enjoyable to play. This league is up there in terms of quality. Tomorrow I have a flight to catch to play in Dubai, it will be an interesting experience as well.
Heinrich Klaasen: It is a bittersweet feeling, but in the end, it was the deserving team that won. The sun will rise again tomorrow. They have been playing brilliant cricket, it is difficult to say what happened tonight and pressure got the better of us. I have enjoyed batting throughout and the bat swing is coming along pretty well.
Tristan Stubbs: I was pretty low on confidence last year but this year it has been an enjoyable experience. It was then that I decided to play like I play for my local club and that's what helped me. I didn't get any runs in the test match I played before the tournament but then I was hitting balls before so that helped me build my confidence.
Simon Harmer: That's massive, the little things go a long way and he's very good at it, everybody will follow and that's the difference for us. Worrall is a better bloke, nice to have him in the same dressing room and he's been exceptional.
Adi Birrell (Sunrisers Eastern Cape Head Coach): They are a very good team, we played well tonight, we batted well to get to 200 and it wasn't that easy if you look at the quality of the batters. You win matches with the batting, but you win tournaments with the bowling, we proved that here. Proper captain, doesn't say a much in the change room, leads the bat and doesn't shy away from tough situations.
Dale Steyn (Sunrisers Eastern Cape Bowling Coach): These guys, once they get into rhythm, our roles become irrelevant, captain takes over and the bowlers do their job, it's all down to them. One of the things we always talked about was taking wickets, that's the difference between us, we have bowled teams under a 100 as we've had the attacking mindset through and through.
Ottneil Baartman: It's huge, couple of injuries with Magala and Overton, that's what us strong and played some exceptional cricket. The guys gelling nicely, the way the bowlers set the tone with the new ball throughout the tournament was brilliant. It's always a dream to play for your country, I'll keep doing the things that I've done well so far. What we need from the coach, game plan and field placement.
Marco Jansen: The way we batted, the way we bowled, very proud of the guys. Luckily I didn't have to bat, the guys with the bat and ball, finished really well. We thought 180 was very par, we got well over that. Unbelievable effort from the guys, hitting the right areas and stuck to our plans.
SUNRISERS EASTERN CAPE WIN THE MATCH BY 89 RUNS AND ARE THE CHAMPIONS OF THE SA20 SEASON 2!
Durban Super Giants: 115 all out in 17 overs
Wiaan Mulder: 38(22b) | Dwaine Pretorius: 28(17b) Marco Janse: 5/30 (4 overs) | Daniel Worrall: 2/15 (4 overs)
Arguably the best team of the tournament in the group stages, SunRisers Eastern Cape have shown why they topped the charts and went past every other team. This has been a dominant display from them after managing to outclass their opposition with both bat and ball. This championship has been earned by them after playing some excellent cricket. Kudos to them for defending their title and hard luck to Durban Super Giants, who have been a good team but have ended up on the wrong side.
205 in a knockout game was always going to be tough to chase and SunRisers Eastern Cape did not make it any easy. Daniel Worrall made like miserable for de Kock, as the batter chopped one back onto his stumps. The capitulation continues as Jansen gets the wicket of Smuts and Bhanuka Rajapaksa in the same over. Matthew Breetzke and Wiaan Mulder put a resistance, but the latter lost his wicket in a bid to add some big runs next to his name.
The death blow for the Super Giants was when their star batter, Heinrich Klaasen was trapped ahead of the sticks on the very first ball he faced. From then on, there was no coming back as wickets fell like dominoes. Dwaine Pretorius and Junior Dala played some cameos but that was not enough as they were bundled out cheaply and what could have been a memorable night for them, turned out to be miserable.
No amount of praise is enough for the SunRisers Eastern Cape bowlers. They have been spot-on with the ball in hand throughout the tournament. The spinners didn't have much of a role. Simon Harmer was the only slower bowler to return with a wicket. Ottniel Baartman and Daniel Worrall returned with 2 wickets each but it was Marco Jansen who was the star of the show. A fifer when the team wanted him the most and he has delivered at arguably the biggest stage of the league. Stick around as we get you through the presentation.